Web UI automation maintenance tool

ABSTRACT

A web UI automation maintenance tool includes a memory and a processor. The memory stores UI automation scripts for an initial web page that includes elements to be displayed for the web page, with each element having an element identifier. The processor determines web page specifics for the initial web page, including the attributes for each of the elements. After the initial web page has been updated, the processor determines the web page specifics for the updated web page. The processor compares, for each element, attributes from the initial web page to the updated web page, and identifies a new element identifier for each element that changed from the initial web page to the updated web page. The UI automation script in the memory is updated with the new element identifiers for each element whose element identifier has changed.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to web UI automation scripts, and moreparticularly, to a maintenance tool that automatically updates web UIautomation scripts.

BACKGROUND

User interface (UI) automation scripts automate user interactions on aweb page. When UI changes are made in a web page, the same changes needto be reflected in the UI automation scripts. A web page will typicallydisplay a number of elements, and UI automation scripts interact withthe elements by using element identifiers. The element identifiers maybe based on certain attributes of the elements, such as ‘id’, ‘css classname’, ‘xPaths’, ‘text’, etc. Attributes provide additional informationabout the elements.

The elements in a web page can be represented by a document object model(DOM) tree. The xPaths are addresses of the elements in the documentobject model tree. Each xPath represents a path to take within thedocument object model tree to reach an element from a starting point. Anexample xPath is “Title=/bookstore/book[2]/title”, where ‘Title’ is anelement identifier. This xPath represents the title of the second bookin the bookstore. When the same ‘book’ object is moved to a differentlocation (analogous to UI elements being modified), the same xPath wouldnow be invalid or would wrongly point at something entirely different.To ensure that the element identifier continues to point to the correctelement, the value of ‘Title’ needs to be updated. This update to the UIautomation scripts is a manual process, as typically performed by a webdeveloper.

When such a change is made, wherein an object is moved from one locationto another in a web page, other element identifiers are affected aswell. Alternatively, when a change is made to an attribute of anelement, its attribute based selector will fail to identify the elementcorrectly. Such changes are very common on a website. When these changesare made, the element identifiers have to be continually updated toensure that the UI automation scripts execute correctly. This situationoccurs more frequently when the web page has a large number of elements,and when xPaths are used as element identifiers. Consequently, in thiscase, a change in one element of a web page may modify the xPaths forother elements within the same web page. Updating the elementidentifiers in the UI automation scripts can be a labor intensive effortwhen there are a large number of elements that have been updated for aweb page.

SUMMARY

A web UI automation maintenance tool includes a memory configured tostore UI automation scripts for an initial web page that includeselements to be displayed for the web page. A processor is coupled to thememory and may be configured to perform the following for the initialweb page: identify the elements on the initial web page, with eachelement having an element identifier associated therewith; identifyattributes associated with each element; and store the identifiedelements, element identifiers, and attributes in the memory.

The processor may be further configured to receive an update to theinitial web page, and to perform the following for the updated web page:identify elements on the updated web page, with each element having anelement identifier associated therewith; identify attributes associatedwith each element; and store the identified elements, elementidentifiers, and attributes in the memory.

The processor may then compare, for each element, attributes from theinitial web page to the updated web page, and identify a new elementidentifier for each element that changed from the initial web page tothe updated web page. The processor updates the new element identifiersin the UI automation script in the memory for each element whose elementidentifier has changed. This is automatically performed withoutrequiring manual intervention, which advantageously reduces the time andeffort spent in maintaining web UI automation scripts.

The web UI automation maintenance tool uses a black-box approach foridentifying elements in a web page, i.e., without using the source codeused for development or the development environment. The web UIautomation maintenance tool, which may also be referred to as an updatedetector, uses the elements rendered on a web browser, i.e., the finalhtml that a browser understands. This ensures that the web UI automationmaintenance tool can work with all kinds of web pages irrespective ofthe language and technology used for developing it.

The element identifier corresponds to an address for each respectiveelement. Each web page may be represented by a document object modeltree, and the address identifies a location of the respective element onthe document object model tree.

The attributes may comprise at least one of text, location and type.Each element may be defined as a rectangle, with the locationcorresponding to a corner of the rectangle, and with the locationfurther including a width and height of the rectangle. The textdescribes the element that is to be displayed on each web page. The typecorresponds to at least one of a click button, drop down menu, a checkbox, and a text box.

The processor may be further configured to identify if a new element hasbeen added to the updated web page that was not in the initial web page,and to generate a report if a new element has been added since an updatewill not be performed.

Similarly, the processor may be further configured to identify if anelement in the initial web page has been removed from the updated webpage, and to generate a report if an element has been removed since anupdate will not be performed.

Another aspect is directed to a method for updating UI automationscripts using a web UI automation maintenance tool comprising aprocessor and a memory coupled to the processor, with the methodcomprising storing UI (user interface) automation scripts in the memoryfor an initial web page comprising elements to be displayed for the webpage. The processor is operated to perform the following steps for theinitial web page: identifying the elements on the initial web page, witheach element having an element identifier associated therewith;identifying attributes associated with each element; and storing theidentified elements, element identifiers, and attributes in the memory.

The method may further comprise operating the processor to receive anupdate to the initial web page, and to perform the following steps forthe updated web page: identifying elements on the updated web page, witheach element having an element identifier associated therewith;identifying attributes associated with each element; and storing theidentified elements, element identifiers, and attributes in the memory.

The method may further comprise comparing, for each element, attributesfrom the initial web page to the updated web page, and identifying a newelement identifier for each element that changed from the initial webpage to the updated web page. The processor updates the new elementidentifiers in the UI automation script in the memory for each elementwhose element identifier has changed.

Yet another aspect is directed to a non-transitory computer readablemedium for updating UI automation scripts using a web UI automationmaintenance tool comprising a processor and a memory coupled to theprocessor, and with the non-transitory computer readable medium having aplurality of computer executable instructions for causing the web UIautomation maintenance tool to perform steps as described above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a network environment of computing devicesin which various aspects of the disclosure may be implemented.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a computing device useful for practicing anembodiment of the client machines or the remote machines illustrated inFIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a web UI automation maintenance tool inwhich various aspects of the disclosure may be implemented.

FIG. 4 is an initial web page received by the web UI automationmaintenance tool illustrated in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is an updated web page received by the web UI automationmaintenance tool illustrated in FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a general flowchart illustrating a method for operating theweb UI automation maintenance tool illustrated in FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 is a more detailed flowchart illustrating a method for operatingthe web UI automation maintenance tool illustrated in FIG. 3.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating the past-content step in theflowchart provided in FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating the compare and update steps in theflowchart provided in FIG. 7.

FIG. 10 is an example web page used to illustrate a document objectmodel tree.

FIG. 11 is the document object model tree for the example web pageillustrated in FIG. 10.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present description is made with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which exemplary embodiments are shown. However, manydifferent embodiments may be used, and thus the description should notbe construed as limited to the particular embodiments set forth herein.Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will bethorough and complete. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout,and prime notations are used to indicate similar elements in alternativeembodiments.

As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art upon reading thefollowing disclosure, various aspects described herein may be embodiedas a device, a method or a computer program product (e.g., anon-transitory computer-readable medium having computer executableinstruction for performing the noted operations or steps). Accordingly,those aspects may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, anentirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software andhardware aspects.

Furthermore, such aspects may take the form of a computer programproduct stored by one or more computer-readable storage media havingcomputer-readable program code, or instructions, embodied in or on thestorage media. Any suitable computer readable storage media may beutilized, including hard disks, CD-ROMs, optical storage devices,magnetic storage devices, and/or any combination thereof.

Referring initially to FIG. 1, a non-limiting network environment 101 inwhich various aspects of the disclosure may be implemented includes oneor more client machines 102A-102N, one or more remote machines106A-106N, one or more networks 104, 104′, and one or more appliances108 installed within the computing environment 101. The client machines102A-102N communicate with the remote machines 106A-106N via thenetworks 104, 104′.

In some embodiments, the client machines 102A-102N communicate with theremote machines 106A-106N via an intermediary appliance 108. Theillustrated appliance 108 is positioned between the networks 104, 104′and may be referred to as a network interface or gateway. In someembodiments, the appliance 108 may operate as an application deliverycontroller (ADC) to provide clients with access to business applicationsand other data deployed in a datacenter, the cloud, or delivered asSoftware as a Service (SaaS) across a range of client devices, and/orprovide other functionality such as load balancing, etc. In someembodiments, multiple appliances 108 may be used, and the appliance(s)108 may be deployed as part of the network 104 and/or 104′.

The client machines 102A-102N may be generally referred to as clientmachines 102, local machines 102, clients 102, client nodes 102, clientcomputers 102, client devices 102, computing devices 102, endpoints 102,or endpoint nodes 102. The remote machines 106A-106N may be generallyreferred to as servers 106 or a server farm 106. In some embodiments, aclient device 102 may have the capacity to function as both a clientnode seeking access to resources provided by a server 106 and as aserver 106 providing access to hosted resources for other client devices102A-102N. The networks 104, 104′ may be generally referred to as anetwork 104. The networks 104 may be configured in any combination ofwired and wireless networks.

A server 106 may be any server type such as, for example: a file server;an application server; a web server; a proxy server; an appliance; anetwork appliance; a gateway; an application gateway; a gateway server;a virtualization server; a deployment server; a Secure Sockets LayerVirtual Private Network (SSL VPN) server; a firewall; a web server; aserver executing an active directory; or a server executing anapplication acceleration program that provides firewall functionality,application functionality, or load balancing functionality.

A server 106 may execute, operate or otherwise provide an applicationthat may be any one of the following: software; a program; executableinstructions; a virtual machine; a hypervisor; a web browser; aweb-based client; a client-server application; a thin-client computingclient; an ActiveX control; a Java applet; software related to voiceover internet protocol (VoIP) communications like a soft IP telephone;an application for streaming video and/or audio; an application forfacilitating real-time-data communications; a HTTP client; a FTP client;an Oscar client; a Telnet client; or any other set of executableinstructions.

In some embodiments, a server 106 may execute a remote presentationclient or other client or program that uses a thin-client or aremote-display protocol to capture display output generated by anapplication executing on a server 106 and transmits the applicationdisplay output to a client device 102.

In yet other embodiments, a server 106 may execute a virtual machineproviding, to a user of a client device 102, access to a computingenvironment. The client device 102 may be a virtual machine. The virtualmachine may be managed by, for example, a hypervisor, a virtual machinemanager (VMM), or any other hardware virtualization technique within theserver 106.

In some embodiments, the network 104 may be: a local-area network (LAN);a metropolitan area network (MAN); a wide area network (WAN); a primarypublic network 104; and a primary private network 104. Additionalembodiments may include a network 104 of mobile telephone networks thatuse various protocols to communicate among mobile devices. For shortrange communications within a WLAN, the protocols may include 802.11,Bluetooth, and Near Field Communication (NFC).

FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram of a computing device 100 useful forpracticing an embodiment of client devices 102 or servers 106. Thecomputing device 100 includes one or more processors 103, volatilememory 122 (e.g., random access memory (RAM)), non-volatile memory 128,user interface (UI) 123, one or more communications interfaces 118, anda communications bus 150.

The non-volatile memory 128 may include: one or more hard disk drives(HDDs) or other magnetic or optical storage media; one or more solidstate drives (SSDs), such as a flash drive or other solid state storagemedia; one or more hybrid magnetic and solid state drives; and/or one ormore virtual storage volumes, such as a cloud storage, or a combinationof such physical storage volumes and virtual storage volumes or arraysthereof.

The user interface 123 may include a graphical user interface (GUI) 124(e.g., a touchscreen, a display, etc.) and one or more input/output(I/O) devices 126 (e.g., a mouse, a keyboard, a microphone, one or morespeakers, one or more cameras, one or more biometric scanners, one ormore environmental sensors, and one or more accelerometers, etc.).

The non-volatile memory 128 stores an operating system 115, one or moreapplications 116, and data 117 such that, for example, computerinstructions of the operating system 115 and/or the applications 116 areexecuted by processor(s) 103 out of the volatile memory 122. In someembodiments, the volatile memory 122 may include one or more types ofRAM and/or a cache memory that may offer a faster response time than amain memory. Data may be entered using an input device of the GUI 124 orreceived from the I/O device(s) 126. Various elements of the computer100 may communicate via the communications bus 150.

The illustrated computing device 100 is shown merely as an exampleclient device or server, and may be implemented by any computing orprocessing environment with any type of machine or set of machines thatmay have suitable hardware and/or software capable of operating asdescribed herein.

The processor(s) 103 may be implemented by one or more programmableprocessors to execute one or more executable instructions, such as acomputer program, to perform the functions of the system. As usedherein, the term “processor” describes circuitry that performs afunction, an operation, or a sequence of operations. The function,operation, or sequence of operations may be hard coded into thecircuitry or soft coded by way of instructions held in a memory deviceand executed by the circuitry. A processor may perform the function,operation, or sequence of operations using digital values and/or usinganalog signals.

In some embodiments, the processor can be embodied in one or moreapplication specific integrated circuits (ASICs), microprocessors,digital signal processors (DSPs), graphics processing units (GPUs),microcontrollers, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmablelogic arrays (PLAs), multi-core processors, or general-purpose computerswith associated memory.

The processor may be analog, digital or mixed-signal. In someembodiments, the processor may be one or more physical processors, orone or more virtual (e.g., remotely located or cloud) processors. Aprocessor including multiple processor cores and/or multiple processorsmay provide functionality for parallel, simultaneous execution ofinstructions or for parallel, simultaneous execution of one instructionon more than one piece of data.

The communications interfaces 118 may include one or more interfaces toenable the computing device 100 to access a computer network such as aLocal Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a Personal AreaNetwork (PAN), or the Internet through a variety of wired and/orwireless connections, including cellular connections.

In described embodiments, the computing device 100 may execute anapplication on behalf of a user of a client device. For example, thecomputing device 100 may execute one or more virtual machines managed bya hypervisor. Each virtual machine may provide an execution sessionwithin which applications execute on behalf of a user or a clientdevice, such as a hosted desktop session. The computing device 100 mayalso execute a terminal services session to provide a hosted desktopenvironment. The computing device 100 may provide access to a remotecomputing environment including one or more applications, one or moredesktop applications, and one or more desktop sessions in which one ormore applications may execute.

Additional descriptions of a computing device 100 configured as a clientdevice 102 or as a server 106, or as an appliance intermediary to aclient device 102 and a server 106, and operations thereof, may be foundin U.S. Pat. Nos. 9,176,744 and 9,538,345, which are incorporated hereinby reference in their entirety. The '744 and '345 patents are bothassigned to the current assignee of the present disclosure.

Referring initially to FIG. 3, a web UI (user interface) automationmaintenance tool 200 will be discussed. The web UI automationmaintenance tool 200 includes a memory 202 and a processor 204 coupledto the memory. UI automation scripts 206 for web pages as generated bythe processor 204 are stored in the memory 202. UI automation scripts206, which may also be referred to as UI automation code 206, automateuser interactions on a web page so that a web browser can then allow auser to interface the web via the web page. When UI changes are made ina web page, the same changes need to be reflected in the UI automationscripts.

The processor 204 also stores in the memory 202 web page specifics 208for initial and updated web pages. The web page specifics 208 includeelements, element identifiers and attributes associated with the initialand updated web pages. The attributes provide additional informationabout the elements. When updates are made to an initial web page, the UIautomation scripts 206 also need to be updated. As discussed in thebackground, updates to the UI automation scripts is a manual process,and are typically performed by a web developer.

The web UI automation maintenance tool 200 advantageously reduces thetime and effort spent in maintaining web UI automation scripts 206. Aswill be discussed in greater detail below, the web UI automationmaintenance tool 200 executes a difference computation algorithm 205 toidentify changes in any of the elements of a web page and then updatesthe element identifiers for the changed elements in the UI automationscripts 206, thereby removing the need for manual intervention for theupdates.

Operation of the web UI automation maintenance tool 200 will bediscussed for an initial web page 220 and for updates made to theinitial web page. The initial web page 220 is illustrated in FIG. 4, andthe updated web page 240 is illustrated in FIG. 5.

In order to automate a web page, there is a need to interact with theelements on the web page. For example, performing a ‘click’ operation isone such interaction. To perform such interactions or operations,elements on the web page need to be identified with element identifiers.Element identifiers are of various types, but the web UI automationmaintenance tool 200 uses ‘xPaths’ because they are the most generictype identifier and can be used to identify/address any element on agiven web page.

In the initial web page 220, there are eight elements. The eightelements include one check box 232; two drop down menus 226, 230; threelabels 224, 228, 232; and two click buttons 234, 236. Starting at thetop of the web page 220, on a first line is the check box 222 and alabel 224 for the check-box 222. The label 224 provides ‘I want tospecify product categorization.’

At the next line down is a first drop down menu 226 and a first label228. The first label 228 provides ‘select product category’ with theselection being made via the first drop down menu 226. At the next linedown is a second drop down menu 230 and a second label 232. The secondlabel 232 provides ‘select product subcategory’ with the selection beingmade via the second drop down menu 230. At the last line are the twoclick buttons 234, 236. The first click button 234 is for choosing afile (‘choose file’), and the second click button 236 is for processing(‘process file’) the file.

Each of the eight elements on the initial web page 220 has a respectiveelement identifier associated therewith. The UI automation scripts 206for the initial web page 220 make use of the element identifiers. Forthe ‘process file’ click button 236, its element identifier is asfollows:

//*[@id=“form1”]/div[5]/div/div/div[2]/div[3] /div/div[2]/button

As will be discussed in greater detail below, each web page can berepresented as a document object model (DOM) tree. When the elementidentifier is an ‘xpath’ it represents where the corresponding elementis located on the document object model DOM tree. For the ‘process file’click button 236, the processor 204 within the web UI automationmaintenance tool 200 incorporates its element identifier into the UIautomation scripts 206. The UI automation script 206 for the ‘processfile’ click button 236 is as follows:

ClickElement(FindElementByXPath{“//*[@id=″form1″]/div[5]/div/div/div[2]/div[3]/div/ div[2]/button”))

In this example, an updated version of the same web page 220 is to bereleased by the web developer. In the updated web page 240, the ‘processfile’ click button 236 is moved to a different location. The ‘processfile’ click button 236 is moved to the line below the check box 222. Asa result, the element identifier for the moved ‘process file’ clickbutton 236 is changed as follows:

//*[@id=“form1”]/div[5]/div/div/div[2]/div[2]/ div/div[2]/button

To accommodate this change and to ensure that the UI automation scripts206 work as expected on the new version of the web page, the processor204 executes the difference computation algorithm 205 to compare webpage specifics 208 between the initial web page 220 stored in the memory202 and the updated web page 240. Based on the elements that havechanged, the processor 204 modifies the element identifiers to the newvalues at all the places in the UI automation scripts 206 where used.The UI automation scripts 206 for the ‘process file’ click button 236 ismodified as follows:

ClickElement(FindElementByXPath(“//*[@id=″form1″]/div[5]/div/div/div[2]/div[2]/div/div[2]/ button”))

Once an update has been detected, as in the new location of the processfile’ click button 236, the UI automation script 206 is automaticallychanged without requiring manual intervention. In addition to updatingthe ‘process file’ click button 236, the other elements below the checkbox 222 will also need to be updated since they are moved to make roomfor the ‘process file’ click button 236. Consequently, the elementidentifiers for these elements are likewise updated in the UI automationscripts 206. Finding the difference among the elements of two instancesof the same web page 220, 240 and updating the element identifiers inthe UI automation scripts 206 reduces the time and effort spent inmaintaining web UI automation scripts 206.

Referring now to the flowchart 300 in FIG. 6, and generally speaking, amethod for updating UI automation scripts 206 with the web UI automationmaintenance tool 200 is provided. From the start (Block 302), initialweb page specifics 208 are determined at Block 304 for the initial webpage 220. The initial web page specifics 208 include elements, elementidentifiers and attributes of the elements. The element identifierscorrespond to addresses of the elements, and the attributes provideadditional information about the elements. After the initial web page220 has been updated, then the updated web page specifics 208 aredetermined at Block 306 for the updated web page 240. The updated webpage specifics 208 also include elements, element identifiers andattributes of the elements.

The web page specifics 208 between the initial and updated web pages220, 240 are compared at Block 308. Based on the compare, the automationscripts 206 are then updated at Block 310. The updating is automaticallyperformed without requiring manual intervention, which advantageouslyreduces the time and effort spent in maintaining web UI automationscripts 206. Also, additions/removals of web page specifics 208 betweenthe initial and updated web pages 220, 240 are reported at Block 312.Here, the additions/removals of web page specifics 208 require manualintervention. The method ends at Block 314.

Referring now to the flowchart 330 in FIG. 7, more detailed steps forupdating UI automation scripts 206 with the web UI automationmaintenance tool 200 will be discussed. From the start (Block 332), theelements and attributes for the initial web page 220 are identified andstored in the memory 202 at Block 334. The elements and attributes forthe initial web page 220 are also referred to as ‘past-content’ sincethis is a historical representation of the initial web page 220. Theautomation scripts 206 for the initial web page 220 are also stored inthe memory 202.

After updating the initial web page 220, then the elements andattributes for the updated web page 240 are identified and stored inmemory 202 at Block 336. The elements and attributes for the updated webpage 220 are also referred to as ‘present-content’ since this is acurrent representation of the updated web page 240.

The difference computation algorithm 205 as executed by the processor204 at Block 338 compares every element's attributes from thepast-content to every element's attributes in the present-content. Thedifference computation algorithm 205 thus determines the similaritiesbetween elements from a state of the initial web page 220 and a state ofthe updated web page 240 based on the attributes of these elements.

The processor 204 updates the element identifiers in the UI automationscripts 206 for all updated elements whose identifiers have changed atBlock 340. The element identifiers correspond to addresses of theelements. The processor 304 is further configured to determineaddition/removal of elements between the initial and updated web pages220, 240. In other words, the processor 204 determines if some elementshave been newly added to or removed from the past-content.Addition/removal of elements are reported at Block 342 for manualintervention. The method ends at Block 344.

Referring now to the flowchart 350 illustrated in FIG. 8, the stepsperformed by the processor 204 for determining the web page specifics208 for the past-content will be discussed in greater detail. Moreparticularly, the flowchart 350 expands on Block 334 as provided in theflowchart 330 in FIG. 7.

From the start (Block 352) all of the elements on the initial web page220 are identified at Block 354. As discussed above in reference to theinitial web page 220 illustrated in FIG. 4, there are eight elements:one check box 232; two drop down menus 226, 230; three labels 224, 228,232; and two click buttons 234, 236.

Attributes for each of the elements are extracted at Block 356.Attributes provide additional information about the elements. Forillustration purposes, the attributes of the ‘process file’ click button236 will be discussed since this element is moved in the updated webpage 240. The attributes for this element include text, location andtype. These attributes are not to be limiting. Attributes in otherexamples may include the following: Alt for alternate, disabled, Hreffor hyperlink, Id for identifier, Src for source, Style, Title, imagesand radio-button.

The text attribute describes or names the ‘process file’ click button236, and in this case, are the words ‘process file’. The locationattribute provides a x-y coordinate of the element on the web page 220.Since each element is generally defined as a rectangle, the x-ycoordinate corresponds to a corner (e.g., top left) of the rectangle.The location attribute further includes a width and height of therectangle. The type attribute corresponds to the element being a clickbutton.

The elements and their attributes are stored in the memory 202 at Block358. Storage of the elements and their attributes may be as an orderedlist, for example. The flowchart 350 end at Block 360.

Referring now to the flowchart 370 illustrated in FIG. 9, the stepsperformed by the processor 204 for determining the updates to thepast-content will be discussed in greater detail. More particularly, theflowchart 370 expands on Blocks 338 and 340 as provided in the flowchart330 in FIG. 7.

From the start (Block 372), the elements and attributes are extractedfor the updated web page 240 at Block 374. The steps performed by theprocessor 204 for determining the present-content are similar to thesteps outlined in the flowchart 350 for the past-content. Once thepast-content and the present-content are both available, then all theattributes of each element are compared with the past-contents' elementsat Block 376.

A determination is made at Block 378 if the compare step finds a match.If a match is found, then the UI automation script 206 is updated atBlock 380 with the new element identifier for the matching element. Asdiscussed above, an element identifier is an address for an element, andin this case, the address for the element on the updated web page 240.In the ‘process file’ click button 236 example, the element was moved toa new location on the updated web page 240. As a result, the UIautomation script 206 is updated to include the new address for the‘process file’ click button 236.

After the UI automation script 206 is updated with the new elementidentifier for the ‘process file’ click button 236, then a determinationis made at Block 382 on if there are more elements in the compare listthat are to be updated. Since the ‘process file’ click button 236 wasmoved to a different location on the updated web page 240, this willhave a ripple effect on the locations of the other elements below forthe ‘process file’ click button 236. Consequently, the compare andupdates steps are repeated for each of the elements that were impacted.Once all the element identifiers have been updated in the UI automationscripts 206, then the flowchart 370 ends at Block 384.

The web UI automation maintenance tool 200 uses a black-box approach foridentifying elements in a web page, i.e., without using the source codeused for development or the development environment. The web UIautomation maintenance tool 200, which may also be referred to as anupdate detector uses the elements rendered on a web browser, i.e., thefinal html that a browser understands. This ensures that the web UIautomation maintenance tool 200 can work with all kinds of web pagesirrespective of the language and technology used for developing it. Eachelement thus has an HTML format.

As discussed above, each web page can be represented as a documentobject model (DOM) tree. When the element identifier is an ‘xpath’ itrepresents where the corresponding element is located on the documentobject model DOM tree.

An example web page 400 used to illustrate a DOM tree is illustrated inFIG. 10. The web page contains HTML tags like <li> for list, <div> fordivision, <p> for paragraph, <button> for button, etc. These tags definethe structure of the web page 400 and are referred to as the elements ofthe web page 400. The source code for the example web page is givenbelow:

<!DOCTYPE html> 1. <html> 2. <body> 3. <h1>My First JavaScript</h1> 4.<button type=”button” onclick=”document.getElementById (‘demo’).innerHTML = Date( )”> 5. Click me to display Date and Time.</button> 6.<p id=”demo”></p> 7. </body> 8. </html>

In the example web page 400, the “Click me to display Date and Time” isthe name displayed for the button element 402, and the date/time text isin block 404. Referring now to the DOM tree 420 in FIG. 11, line 4 inthe above source code describes the button element 402. Here, the buttonelement 402 is a child of the <body> tag 406, which in turn is a childof the <html> tag 408. Consequently, xPpth for the button 402 is‘/html/body/button’. Similarly, the xPath for the ‘Date Time text’ fieldis ‘/html/body/p’. To illustrate this further, the parent ‘html’ 408 hasone child ‘body’ 406, and the ‘body’ has three children ‘h1’ 403,‘button’ 402 and ‘p’ 401.

Yet another aspect is directed to a non-transitory computer readablemedium for a central authentication service device 210 used inauthenticating a user operating a computing device 220 requesting accessto a service provider 230. The non-transitory computer readable mediumhas a plurality of computer executable instructions for causing thecentral authentication service device 210 to perform steps comprisingstoring UI automation scripts 206 in the memory 202 for an initial webpage 220 comprising elements to be displayed for the web page. Theprocessor 204 is operated to perform the following steps for the initialweb page 220: identifying the elements on the initial web page 220, witheach element having an element identifier associated therewith;identifying attributes associated with each element; and storing theidentified elements, element identifiers, and attributes in the memory202.

The processor 204 is further operated to receive an update to theinitial web page 220, and to perform the following steps for the updatedweb page 240: identifying elements on the updated web page 220, witheach element having an element identifier associated therewith;identifying attributes associated with each element; and storing theidentified elements, element identifiers, and attributes in the memory202.

The processor 204 is further operated to compare, for each element,attributes from the initial web page 220 to the updated web page 240,and identify a new element identifier for each element that changed fromthe initial web page 220 to the updated web page 240. The processor 204updates the new element identifiers in the UI automation script 206 inthe memory 202 for each element whose element identifier has changed.

Many modifications and other embodiments will come to the mind of oneskilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings presented in theforegoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it isunderstood that the disclosure is not to be limited to the specificembodiments disclosed, and that modifications and embodiments areintended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.

That which is claimed:
 1. A web UI automation maintenance toolcomprising: a memory configured to store UI (user interface) automationscripts for an initial web page comprising elements to be displayed forthe web page; and a processor coupled to said memory and configured toperform the following for the initial web page: receive the initial webpage in an HTML format, with the HTML format including elements on theinitial web page, element identifiers associated with the elements, andattributes associated with the elements, identify the elements on theinitial web page, identify the attributes associated with each element,with the attributes providing additional information on the elements,and store the identified elements, element identifiers, and attributesin said memory; said processor further configured to receive an updateto the initial web page, and to perform the following for the updatedweb page: receive the updated web page in an HTML format, with the HTMLformat including elements on the initial web page, element identifiersassociated with the elements, and attributes associated with theelements, identify the elements on the updated web page, identify theattributes associated with each element, with the attributes providingadditional information on the elements, store the identified elements,element identifiers, and attributes in said memory, compare, for eachelement having the HTML format, attributes from the initial web page toattributes of the updated web page to determine similarities between astate of the initial web page and a state of the updated web page,identify, based on the compare, a new element identifier for eachupdated element having an element identifier that was changed from theinitial web page to the updated web page, and update the new elementidentifiers in the UI automation script in said memory based on thedetermined similarities between the states of the initial and updatedweb pages without requiring further input and without requiring manualintervention for the update.
 2. The web UI automation maintenance toolaccording to claim 1 wherein each element identifier corresponds to anaddress for each respective element.
 3. The web UI automationmaintenance tool according to claim 2 wherein each web page isrepresented by a document object model tree, and with each addressidentifying a location of the respective element on the document objectmodel tree.
 4. The web UI automation maintenance tool according to claim1 wherein the attributes comprise at least one of text, location andtype.
 5. The web UI automation maintenance tool according to claim 4wherein each element is defined as a rectangle, with the locationcorresponding to a corner of the rectangle, and with the locationfurther including a width and height of the rectangle.
 6. The web UIautomation maintenance tool according to claim 4 wherein the textdescribes the element that is to be displayed on each web page.
 7. Theweb UI automation maintenance tool according to claim 4 wherein the typecorresponds to at least one of a click button, drop down menu, a checkbox, and a text box.
 8. The web UI automation maintenance tool accordingto claim 1 wherein each element has an HTML format.
 9. The web UIautomation maintenance tool according to claim 1 wherein said processoris further configured to identify if a new element has been added to theupdated web page that was not in the initial web page, and to generate areport if a new element has been added since an update will not beperformed.
 10. The web UI automation maintenance tool according to claim1 wherein said processor is further configured to identify if an elementin the initial web page has been removed from the updated web page, andto generate a report if an element has been removed since an update willnot be performed.
 11. A method for updating UI automation scripts usinga web UI automation maintenance tool comprising a processor and a memorycoupled to the processor, the method comprising: storing UI (userinterface) automation scripts in the memory for an initial web pagecomprising elements to be displayed for the web page; operating theprocessor to perform the following steps for the initial web page:receiving the initial web page in an HTML format, with the HTML formatincluding elements on the initial web page, element identifiersassociated with the elements, and attributes associated with theelements, identifying the elements on the initial web page, identifyingthe attributes associated with each element, with the attributesproviding additional information on the elements, and storing theidentified elements, element identifiers, and attributes in the memory;and operating the processor to receive an update to the initial webpage, and to perform the following steps for the updated web page:receiving the updated web page in an HTML format, with the HTML formatincluding elements on the initial web page, element identifiersassociated with the elements, and attributes associated with theelements, identifying the elements on the updated web page, identifyingthe attributes associated with each element, with the attributesproviding additional information on the elements, storing the identifiedelements, element identifiers, and attributes in the memory, comparing,for each element having the HTML format, attributes from the initial webpage to attributes of the updated web page to determine similaritiesbetween a state of the initial web page and a state of the updated webpage, identifying, based on the comparing, a new element identifier foreach updated element having an element identifier that was changed fromthe initial web page to the updated web page, and updating the newelement identifiers in the UI automation script in the memory based onthe determined similarities between the states of the initial andupdated web pages without requiring further input and without requiringmanual intervention for the update.
 12. The method according to claim 11wherein each element identifier corresponds to an address for eachrespective element.
 13. The method according to claim 12 wherein eachweb page is represented by a document object model tree, and with eachaddress identifying a location of the respective element on the documentobject model tree.
 14. The method according to claim 11 wherein theattributes comprise at least one of text, location and type.
 15. Themethod according to claim 11 wherein each element has an HTML format.16. A non-transitory computer readable medium for updating UI automationscripts using a web UI automation maintenance tool comprising aprocessor and a memory coupled to the processor, and with thenon-transitory computer readable medium having a plurality of computerexecutable instructions for causing the web UI automation maintenancetool to perform steps comprising: storing UI (user interface) automationscripts in the memory for an initial web page comprising elements to bedisplayed for the web page; operating the processor to perform thefollowing steps for the initial web page: receiving the initial web pagein an HTML format, with the HTML format including elements on theinitial web page, element identifiers associated with the elements, andattributes associated with the elements, identifying the elements on theinitial web page, identifying the attributes associated with eachelement, with the attributes providing additional information on theelements, and storing the identified elements, element identifiers, andattributes in the memory; and operating the processor to receive anupdate to the initial web page, and to perform the following steps forthe updated web page: receiving the updated web page in an HTML format,with the HTML format including elements on the initial web page, elementidentifiers associated with the elements, and attributes associated withthe elements, identifying the elements on the updated web page,identifying the attributes associated with each element, with theattributes providing additional information on the elements, storing theidentified elements, element identifiers, and attributes in the memory,comparing, for each element having the HTML format, attributes from theinitial web page to attributes of the updated web page to determinesimilarities between a state of the initial web page and a state of theupdated web page, identifying, based on the comparing, a new elementidentifier for each updated element having an element identifier thatwas changed from the initial web page to the updated web page, andupdating the new element identifiers in the UI automation script in thememory based on the determined similarities between the states of theinitial and updated web pages without requiring further input andwithout requiring manual intervention for the update.
 17. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 16 whereineach element identifier corresponds to an address for each respectiveelement.
 18. The non-transitory computer readable medium according toclaim 17 wherein each web page is represented by a document object modeltree, and with each address identifying a location of the respectiveelement on the document object model tree.
 19. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium according to claim 16 wherein the attributescomprise at least one of text, location and type.
 20. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium according to claim 16 wherein each element hasan HTML format.